


Bar Fights and Purple Ink

by Rumbellelives



Series: Rumbelle 2K Prompt-a-thon [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Bar/Pub, Angst, Bar Fight, Belle was mistreated by gaston, Cute, F/M, I said bar fight, Rumbelle - Freeform, Rumple is a gentleman and helps her out, Rumple is courageous, and met Rumple in a bar, mentions of abuse, yeah thats right
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-28
Updated: 2016-05-28
Packaged: 2018-07-10 16:39:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6996136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rumbellelives/pseuds/Rumbellelives
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Belle feels a shiver run up her spine. She can’t do this today. She can’t deal with Gaston… not after what happened between them. </p><p>She does the only thing that she can think of. Vowing to apologize later, she grabs the hand of the man sitting next to her, pulling him closer to her, painting a fake smile on her face and leaning into him."</p><p>Belle sees her ex across the room. In order to avoid him, she grabs the closest man next to her and pretends that he is her boyfriend. He just so happens to be the rich and prestigious Mr. Gold.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bar Fights and Purple Ink

**Author's Note:**

> This was one of my favorites to write! I’m actually considering making a whole fan fiction based on this universe alone… but I’m not sure. If you would be interested in reading more, please pop a review in and let me know. 
> 
> This was written for my 2k prompt-a-thon. Thank you to Frenchroast007 on Tumblr for sending in the prompt and I really hope that you enjoy what I wrote! I think you were going for more humor than this… but the story kind of took a direction of its own before I could stop it…. What can I say, my writing has a mind of its own. :D

Bar Fights and Purple Ink

Belle sits at the booth, sipping at her drink with disinterest. Her friends are laughing next to her, but she isn’t paying attention, their voices fading out into the babble of the crowd as they go to the dance floor. 

She would rather be anywhere but here really. She wants to be curled up on her bed with a mug of tea and the book that she was about to finish. 

_“You have to come with us, Belle!” Mulan had said._

_“Yeah.. it wont be as fun without you,” Ruby adds in._

“You guys seem to be doing just fine without me,” Belle mumbles into her drink. 

This bar wasn’t even that impressive with mostly cheap alcohol and bad music. 

Think on the bright side, Belle! She tells herself. This evening could go a lot worse. 

Almost as if on cue, Belle sees him walk through the door. He has his classic, cheesy smile on his face, the one that says ‘I am better than you in every aspect’. His hair is gelled back and his eyes travel across the club as if he is searching for his next victim. 

Belle feels a shiver run up her spine. She can’t do this today. She can’t deal with him… not after what happened between them. 

She turns frantically, looking for Ruby or Mulan but they have left her to go dance and she feels her heart rate speeding up. 

No no no. 

She does the only thing that she can think of. Vowing to apologize later, she grabs the hand of the man sitting next to her, pulling him closer to her, painting a fake smile on her face and leaning into him. 

“Please laugh,” she says to him. Her voice is small and her hands are trembling. 

“I… I…” the man sounds flustered for a moment, and his face reddens. He looks as if he is about to snap at her, about to tell her off for touching him in this way. But he notices the fear in her expression, and sees the direction of her gaze.

He lets out a small laugh, loud enough to be heard by the surrounding members, and then, to Belle’s complete surprise, puts an arm around her shoulder as if he has known her all his life. 

She can feel the heat radiating off of him through her blouse and it makes her own cheeks redden. 

“Ah yes, sweetheart,” he says to her loudly. Belle can feel Gaston watching them from across the room, can almost hear the question going through his mind of whether or not he should approach them both. She sends out a silent prayer, but it is to no avail. 

Gaston begins to walk over. 

The man leans his face next to hers, his mouth mere inches from her own. To anyone else it looks like a flirtatious gesture between lovers. 

“What do you want me to do?” he asks. “Do you need to get out of here?”

Belle is just staring into his deep brown eyes, suddenly unable to look away. His shoulder length hair frames a handsome face. 

“I… I…” She can only nod as the words wont come. 

The man stands up, his arm still around her shoulders. He begins to lead her away, turning so they are walking away from Gaston. But they don’t make it far.

Gaston manages to get in front of them, directly in the path between her and the door. Her heart is pounding. She wishes that she would have just stayed home. 

“Hey, Belle!” Gaston slurs, obviously already very drunk. His hand swings out as if to grab at her but she is pulled out of the way in time. 

“I’m going to have to ask you to leave us alone,” the man says. “She doesn’t want to talk to you.”

“Oh are you Belle’s new boyfriend?” Gaston asks, his eyes glinting. “You might wanna watch out for that little _slut_.”

“You will not talk about Belle this way. She is a respectable young woman,” the man says in response. She can feel him tense up in anger next to her, as if Gaston’s words really do offend him. 

“Please leave me alone,” she says, pushing the man’s arm off of her shoulders. 

“But Belle…” 

“I don’t want to speak to you!” she snaps back, clenching a fist at her side. She is still trembling but she is sick and tired of being scared of him. 

He has treated her like dirt for the past two years. He has laughed at her and stepped all over her and has expected her to do his every bidding without question. She is done letting other people stand up for her and is done allowing him to control and manipulate her. 

Gaston lunges at her, this time with the intent to grab her by the shirt and pull her forwards. His hand misses her front and latches onto her shoulder, but before he can so much as bruise her, the other man smacks him away with the cane he's clutching in his left hand. 

“Don’t touch her.”

Without any warning, Gaston swings his fist. It collides with Rumple's face with a solid smack. He sees stars, stumbling backwards, his hand flying up to protect his jaw. Luckily, Gaston doesn't follow up the act, instead slumping to the ground. The pompous man is now too drunk to stand, the words he mumbles under his breath unintelligible. 

Belle stands there, mouth open in shock. Rumple just smiles, a trickle of blood running down his cheek.  

XXX

They sit side by side, out behind the bar. The music can be heard as if at a distance, the slight pulsing of the bass in time with the lights flashing through the little windows near the top of the building. 

“You shouldn’t have stood up for me like that,” Belle mumbles to her companion. “I don’t even know your name…”

She is pressing a cool cloth to his face, wiping the last traces of blood away from his cheek. He winces but allows her to clean his wound. 

“It’s Mr. Gold…” the man responds. She considers asking him for a first name, but decides against it. If that’s how he wants to introduce himself to her, that is how she will address him. 

“Well, Mr. Gold,” she says with a little smile. “Thank you very much.”

“It’s my pleasure… though I am sorry for getting us both kicked out,” he says. He was surprised that the manager had the courage to kick him out of his own bar, but he decided not to fight in favor of following Belle outside. He had a headache anyways and wanted to talk to her for a little while longer. Though he would have a conversation with the manager later, he decides to himself. 

“Ah, I wasn’t having fun anyways. Those really aren’t my sort of thing,” she answers, pulling back away from him and inspecting his face. It doesn’t look that bad, but he will have a nice bruise on his jaw for a few days.

"Don't worry about him," Belle says after the silence becomes deafening. 

He raises an eyebrow. "I wont worry about garbage like that," he says. "I've got enough money and a good attorney."

Belle looks at him in alarm. "Please don't sue him... he's not worth it."

Mr. Gold just looks down at his feet, choosing not to say any more. The wind gusts, making his hair flutter over his eyes. He brushes it away, blinking. 

"I'll walk you home," he offers after another moment, unsure of what to say next. 

"No," she responds, not unkindly. "You've done enough for me for one day. I really appreciate it."

She stands up, brushing some dirt off of her hands with a smile. 

"You take care, Mr. Gold," she says to him. 

It takes him several minutes to realize that she slipped him a napkin with her number scrawled in purple ink. 


End file.
